Special Forces Sergeant Major in Afghanistan | Military Memoir Ghostwriter | Randall Surles (SGM, ret.) Round 2

Today on Combat Story we have our second interview with 32 year veteran and retired Special Forces Sergeant Major Randy Surles, who entered the Army in 1987 and retired in 2019. In round one we covered Randy's jump into Panama where he broke his leg and had to crawl for seven hours to safety, his transition into Special Forces from the Ranger Regiment, and attending Lancero school in Colombia, which you can think of as a more dangerous Ranger School (entirely in Spanish!).

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In this episode, we dive into his time leading Green Berets in the post-9/11 era in Afghanistan where he saw mulitple combat deployments. Randy now helps veterans write their own memoirs as a ghostwriter with the aptly titled website The Military Editor. With that, please enjoy our second interview with Randy Surles.

Find Randall Surles Online:

https://militaryeditor.com/

https://thestoryninjas.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/randall-surles-military-editor-mfa-creative-writing-5bbbbb66/?trk=public_post_main-feed-card_reshare-text

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🎵 Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

Show Notes:

00:00 Intro
00:34 Introduction to Combat Story
00:53 Randy Searles' Military Journey
01:49 Lancero School Challenges
02:38 Jungle Survival Training
12:10 Mission in South America
17:34 Early Deployment to Afghanistan
41:19 Adapting to New Equipment and Strategies
42:16 Unexpected Challenges and Base Management
44:56 IED Encounters and Tactical Adjustments
49:20 Leadership and Tactical Raids
54:30 Hostage Rescue in Colombia
01:10:51 Military Editor and Skill Bridge Program
01:19:31 Conclusion and Final Thoughts